Top 10
January 09, 2007 11:12 AM | General
January 9, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia finished 10th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 football polls, released today.
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| West Virginia players hoist up the Gator Bowl Trophy after the Mountaineers came from behind to beat Georgia Tech 38-35 on Jan. 1.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
It is the second straight year the Mountaineers (11-2) have finished in the Top 10 -- a school first. Last year, West Virginia defeated Georgia in the Nokia Sugar Bowl to finish the year 11-1, ranked fifth in the AP poll and sixth in the Coaches’ poll.
Prior to that, the last time West Virginia finished nationally ranked in consecutive years was in 1988-89. WVU was fifth in both final polls in 1988 and finished ranked 21st in the AP poll in 1989.
It is the 14th time West Virginia has finished ranked in the AP poll and the fourth time the Mountaineers have been ranked in the ESPN/USA Today poll. It is the fifth time WVU has finished ranked in the top 10: 1953 (10th), 1988 (fifth), 1993 (seventh), 2005 (fifth) and 2006 (10th).
Finally, it is the third time under current coach Rich Rodriguez that West Virginia has finished the season in the AP rankings.
WEST VIRGINIA’S POLL FINISHES
AP: 1953 (10), 1954 (12), 1955 (19), 1969 (17), 1975 (20), 1981 (17), 1982 (19), 1983 (16), 1988 (5), 1989 (21), 1993 (7), 2002 (25), 2005 (5), 2006 (10)
UPI: 1953 (15), 1955 (17), 1969 (18), 1975 (17), 1981 (18), 1982 (19), 1983 (16), 1984 (18), 1988 (5)
ESPN/USA Today: 1993 (6), 2002 (20), 2005 (6), 2006 (10)
WEST VIRGINIA’S AP POLL FINISHES BY COACHES
BIG EAST AT THE TOP OF THE POLLS
For the first time in Big East history the conference had three teams finish in the Top 12 in both major polls. In the AP poll, Louisville finished sixth, West Virginia 10th and Rutgers 12th. Louisville finished seventh, West Virginia 10th and Rutgers 12th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
The last time the Big East had a pair of Top 10 teams was in 2002 when Miami finished second and Virginia Tech was sixth.
Three times the Big East has had four teams nationally ranked in 1993 (7. West Virginia, 13. Boston College, 15. Miami and 22.Virginia Tech), 2001 (1. Miami, 14. Syracuse, 18. Virginia Tech and 21. Boston College) and 2002 (2. Miami, 18. Virginia Tech, 19. Pitt and 25. West Virginia).
BOWL BONANZA
The Big East went 5-0 in bowl games for the first time ever. Louisville beat Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl, West Virginia defeated Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl, Rutgers downed Kansas State in the Texas Bowl, South Florida beat East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl and Cincinnati outlasted Western Michigan in the International Bowl.
The best prior bowl performances came in 2000 and 2001 when the conference went 4-1 in its bowl games. The only other time the Big East went undefeated during the bowl season was in 1991 when the league was 2-0.
This season snapped a three-year losing streak during the bowl season for the conference and it was just the sixth time in the league’s existence that it finished the bowl season with a winning record.
The Big East is now 35-30 in bowl games since 1991.
SAGARIN RATINGS
The computers also thought highly of the Big East this year. The conference finished second in the Sagarin rankings behind only the Southeastern Conference.
The SEC was the top overall conference with an 81.60 ranking, which was slightly ahead of the Big East’s 79.57 mark. Rounding out the top six were the Pac 10 (78.78), ACC (75.49), Big Ten (74.89) and the Big 12 (74.34).
All eight Big East teams were ranked among the Top 75 teams in the country – the only conference that can boast that. Louisville finished fifth, followed by West Virginia (10), Rutgers (12), South Florida (31), Cincinnati (43), Pitt (45), Syracuse (66) and Connecticut (73).
ATTENDANCE INCREASE
Improved play on the football field has translated into more people in the seats for Big East football games in 2006. The conference topped the 2 million mark in overall attendance and averaged 39,042 for its 52 home dates.
Last year, the Big East drew 1.4 million fans on 46 home dates for an average of 32,081. The biggest attendance gains were experienced by Rutgers, Pitt and West Virginia.
In 2005, Rutgers had an accumulated capacity of 79.96 percent for its six home dates. This year, the Scarlet Knights had a 99.07 percent capacity for a +19.11 percent increase. Rutgers drew 246,675 fans for its six home dates in 2006 for an average of 41,112.
Pitt also saw its home attendance increase by +4.66 percent at 65,000-seat Heinz Field. The Panthers averaged 43,305 for its seven home dates this year.
West Virginia, by far the league’s top draw, saw its average attendance lifted from 56,287 in 2005 to 58,773 in 2006. The Mountaineers finished ranked 26th in the nation in accumulated attendance (411,408), 27th in average attendance and 38th in accumulated capacity (93.81).
